History

Prescott Valley has come a long way from the days of dirt roads and 1 grocery store! We still retain our small town charm in the way of our historical Old Town district, open spaces and a living General Plan that showcases our commitment to growing a healthy community with total citizen input!

Did You Know
One of the Town's famous landmarks, Glassford Hill, once was an active volcano between 10 and 14 million years ago. Colonel William A. Glassford traveled the area in the 1880s and helped form a sophisticated system of 27 heliograph stations to monitor the movements of Apache Indians, U.S. military troops and civilians. Glassford Hill was a part of that early communications system. Today, this landmark stands at an elevation of 6,177 feet.

Prescott Valley's Fitzmaurice Ruins contain artifacts from the early Mountain Patayan people who inhabited the area some 14,000 years ago.

The Walker party discovered gold along Lynx Creek in 1863.

Thomas Gibson Barlow-Massicks arrived in the area in 1885 and built the "castle" that still sits in Fain Park. Massicks build a small town from scratch but few of the original structures remain in addition to the mining equipment he used to dredge Lynx Creek.

In the mid 1960s, Prescott Valley Incorporated, a real-estate company from Phoenix, purchased land in an area 10 miles east of Prescott known as Lonesome Valley. In 1966, representatives from Prescott Valley Inc. began traveling to the Midwest to sell home lots to people who craved sunshine, mild weather, and magnificent scenery.

In 1978, more than 1,500 residents were living in the unincorporated area now known as Prescott Valley. On August 22, 1978, the voters of Prescott Valley voted overwhelmingly for incorporation as a town.

In the intervening years, Prescott Valley has grown into one of the most progressive and attractive communities in Arizona! August 22, 2003 marked the Silver Anniversary of the Town of Prescott Valley's first 25 years of incorporation.